I
PITTSEY "knew the ropes," as he expressed it. He knew where to find cheap lodgings in New York, and he knew enough not to remain in them. "We don't board," he said. "Oh, no! Not in New York! We camp. Wait till I show you. We rent a flat at twenty dollars a month. We furnish it for twenty dollars more. We do our own cooking on a gas stove that goes with the flat. Wait till I show you! I haven't been camp cook for nothing. Porridge and boiled eggs and coffee for breakfast. Delicatessen and stewed prunes for luncheon. Beefsteak and boiled potatoes and tea for dinner. Wait till I show you! I've been here before, many's the time, many's the time. As Napoleon didn't say: 'The man who storms New York, conquers on his commissariat!' Leave it to me."
They left it to him. He foraged for them at the stations on their way down, refusing to let them pay dining-car prices for their meals. He conducted them across the New Jersey ferry, pointing out the high buildings that loomed mountainously above the New York shore, under a sky that was pale with the reflected glare of hidden street lights. He led them to a fly-blown restaurant and fed them on corned-beef hash "browned in the pan," coffee and "wheats." He found them a cheap hotel where they left their
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